How is NCLs Food? What About Gluten Free?

[LBeeE]

New to NCL. I'm seeing lots of complaints about the food quality. We've only cruised with RCI before. We are booked on NCL escape in June. I never thought the food on RCI was much to talk about, it was passable. Never had anything bad. Biggest complaint was they had no idea how to handle food allergies and offered me nothing that was gluten free despite my filling out the paperwork prior to the cruise. I had to supply my own cracker, bread items, there were zero GF items on our cruises with RCI. And in the MDR I was told each night there was basically nothing I could have from the menu. I ended up with the same plain chicken breast, plain lettuce salad, and baked potato every night. They could have cared-less even when I called after returning home. We are not paying for another cruise with RCI if they can't accommodate serving me food that I can eat. Now I'm very nervous about NCL and don't know what to expect.

[dlynn0366]

Last week I sat beside a lady on the Jade in the pay restaurant Teppanyaki who requested gluten free. Instead of being cooked at the table hers was done in the kitchen & brought out by the chef. It looked delicious & she said it was fantastic.

[OneParticularHarbour 71]

We are experienced cruisers and cruised for the first time on NCL last summer on the Getaway. We just booked again for next month. We ate most of our dinners in the specialty restaurants and enjoyed the variety. My husband needs gluten free as well or he gets very sick.

 

We had filled out the allergy form and sent it in to ncl before sailing. There was a letter in our stateroom when we arrived with information on who to call onboard if he had any concerns and for the first few days of the cruise, someone called each afternoon checking in on him to make sure he had plenty to eat.

 

The only frustrating part about it was that each time we went to a specialty restaurant, we had to tell them about the allergy - it didn't automatically show up on the reservation.

 

The rolls served to everyone in Moderno are gluten free already - they were good - not like the typical gluten free breads and rolls. The waitress there was very good and walked my husband through the salad bar, pointing out what was safe and what wasn't.

 

At Cagney's they served him the same rolls from Moderno.

 

At Teppanyaki, they prepared his food first while the grill was still clean.

 

La Cucina has gluten free pizza but it should be ordered earlier in the day before your dinner. I don't remember if they also had gluten free pasta.

 

At Illusionarium, they served his dinner without the sauce.

 

I don't remember what he had at the other restaurants or dining rooms, but he was able to find something different at each. I think they served him gluten free bread at the table.

 

Hope this was helpful and hope you have a better experience on NCL. I liked the food better on NCL than on Royal but again we ate in the specialty restaurants almost every night. We are only doing a couple of specialties next month, so we will see how it goes in the main dining rooms.

 

Good luck!

Edited March 14, 2016 by OneParticularHarbour 71

[npater]

My husband is highly allergic to nuts and he is very well taken care of on the ship. I contact the Access Desk before the cruise, they send me a form to fill out and I send it back to them. I contact the food and beverage mgr and meet up with the head maitre de. Every night one of them meet up with my husband and he picks his menu for the next night. Everything is cooked in a separate area. They always come over and check to make sure everything is to our liking.

[clarkmar624]

On our last cruise on RCI my daughter-in-law was gluten free and she had the best vacation in her life! They always had a big selection of entrees and she had a big selection of rolls and bread every night at dinner. She was treated like royalty and loved every moment of it. RCI went over and above our expectations, I am hoping on our upcoming Escape cruise we get half the treatment from NCL as we are taking our 7 year old grandson who is gluten free, I hope someone who is gluten free can give us some feedback on this.

[bbryan5]

On my 7 NCL cruises, I have never had a bad meal.

[AmR87]

I am a gluten free girl- celiac disease. Or as I like to say, I won't get sick now, but I'll be sick later!

 

Anyway, I'm traveling on the dawn in two weeks. If I remember I'll let you know how it goes.

 

I have had great experiences so far on rcl and carnival though!

[clarkmar624]

Thanks Am, that would be great if you remember. We are on Escape April 30th sailing.

[mjkacmom]

In the MDR's, we'd order dd's meals the night before, and pretty much make her anything. They have tons of gf products onboard, just ask. In the specialties, they'd make modifications. We had no problems.

[dolita22]

New to NCL. I'm seeing lots of complaints about the food quality. We've only cruised with RCI before. We are booked on NCL escape in June. I never thought the food on RCI was much to talk about, it was passable. Never had anything bad.

 

Sailed RCL twice and NCL five times. We really, really enjoy the food on NCL. We have yet to have a bad meal and have only dined in speciality restaurants twice, and that was on the Escape (Margaritaville [both when it was complimentary and an upcharge] and Food Republic). Otherwise, we eat mostly in the MDRs/O'Sheehans/buffets.

 

Agree with you on the food on RCL. We aren't foodies, but didn't enjoy it on either RCL cruise.

 

As for being gluten free and food allergies, contact NCL in advance and they will accommodate you. You can email the Access/Special Needs desk (AccessDesk@ncl.com) and give them your cruise information, and they will notify the Food and Beverage Director on the Escape of your needs. You can also call them at (866) 584-9756. You may also want to met with the maitre'd or restaurant once you board to confirm they have received the request.

 

From another thread: "They will take the order ahead of time and your room number. When you sit down each night at dinner give your room number and they meal will come out at the same time as everyone else's. Then ask to place the order again for the next night."

 

Enjoy the Escape and NCL! We've sailed twice on it and it's a great ship!

[dolita22]

On our last cruise on RCI my daughter-in-law was gluten free and she had the best vacation in her life! They always had a big selection of entrees and she had a big selection of rolls and bread every night at dinner. She was treated like royalty and loved every moment of it. RCI went over and above our expectations, I am hoping on our upcoming Escape cruise we get half the treatment from NCL as we are taking our 7 year old grandson who is gluten free, I hope someone who is gluten free can give us some feedback on this.

 

See my previous post for the NCL Access / Special Needs desk contact info. Have your DIL contact them prior to your cruise and they will be able to accommodate her son's gluten-free needs.

[Pikaia]

As mentioned above, go through the Access Desk process. This makes sure they have enough GF stuff on board.

 

GF eating works best on NCL if you place your order ahead of time. You can do this by visiting the restaurant the night before or a few hours ahead and letting the person at the door know that you need to place an order for a special diet. They'll write it out on a paper ticket that'll go to the kitchen. It'll have your room number on it. They will prepare it in a separate part of the kitchen, and letting them know ahead of time allows them to make sure that station has all of the necessary ingredients. If you don't, they'll still feed you, but your plate may be emptier than it would have been (ask me how I know!). Sometimes this process can be a little confusing for everyone involved. Try not to let it bother you!

 

Eating at the buffet varies from ship to ship. You should be able to get a manager to show you what's gluten-free, but they may suggest that you eat at restaurants instead, given that cross-contamination is hard to avoid.

 

Since I started cruising while eating GF, NCL has never had GF soy sauce available, even at the Teppanyaki restaurant. I bring several packets of tamari and send them back to the kitchen for that meal, but on the last cruise I think they'd have been happier if I'd brought a whole bottle. (Apparently several packets wasn't enough, and they were wringing their hands over the fact that my food wouldn't have the right amount of soy sauce in it!)

[MICHLEV1974]

You can email the Access/Special Needs desk (AccessDesk@ncl.com) and give them your cruise information, and they will notify the Food and Beverage Director on the Escape of your needs. You can also call them at (866) 584-9756.

 

thank you so much for posting this. i need dairy free and i just emailed. i had no idea i needed to do this in advance. thanks again! very helpful